Hi everybody!
Very interesting topic for me – as I have experienced the same challenge(s)…
Based on my experience so far (archiving fotos for more 40 years, 25 years of which in electronic form) I would recommend two things:
a) Don’t mix a key (unique identifier of a photo) with descriptive attributes, i.e. – as Mark12 wrote – start with 1 and number sequentially. Add all other information on a photo as additional attributes (or fields). Based on my extensive experience as a member of an organization department of a large multinational country almost all “meaningful” keys will prove as insufficient sooner or later for various reasons – so don’t try to do this.
b) Don’t try to find a “fancy” application software for the cataloging job – stick with the simple features of the operating system (or file explorer, etc.) of your computer. Otherwise regular updates with the need for adaptation of your existing data – or even the software provider going “belly-up” – may prove an unnecessary “pain in the a..”. Using MS Office applications – like Mark12 recommended – MIGHT BE acceptable (because it is a global standard unlikely to disappear or change too much in the foreseeable future), but as somebody who had to upgrade MS Word formats at least 5 times already (about 50.000 documents in total), I would advise to be careful even with these applications!
Generally speaking: Keep your “system” as simple as possible.
Regards and good luck
Thomas
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